Let’s set the stage: You’re lying in bed attempting to fall asleep after a long exhausting day. You feel yourself beginning to drift off to sleep. Then as you lie there in the quiet of the night, you start to notice the sound of ringing in your ears. You’re certain it’s nothing in your bedroom because the TV, radio, and phone are all off. No, this sound is coming from inside your ears and you’re not sure how to stop it.
If this scenario has happened to you, then it’s likely that you’re one of the 50 million people that suffer from tinnitus. Buzzing, ringing, and a variety of other noises will be heard inside of your ears when you have this problem. The majority of people who have tinnitus consider it a mere annoyance; it comes and goes but doesn’t really impact their daily lives. For others, unfortunately, tinnitus can be devastating and cause them to lose sleep and have a hard time performing work and recreational activities.
What Causes Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is still a bit of a mystery, but this problem has been narrowed down to a handful of causes. It shows up commonly in individuals who have damaged hearing, as well as people who suffer from heart conditions. It’s believed that tinnitus comes about due to limited blood flow around the ears, which makes the heart pump blood harder in order for it to get where it needs to go. People who have iron-deficiency anemia commonly experience tinnitus symptoms because their blood cells don’t carry enough oxygen throughout their body, which, again, works the heart harder to deliver nutrients to the correct place, often resulting in tinnitus.
Tinnitus also occurs as a result of other conditions, like Meniere’s disease, ear infections, and ear canal blockages. Situations where tinnitus becomes more pronounced occur with all of these condition because they all impact the hearing. Sometimes treatment can be difficult when the cause of tinnitus isn’t easily discernible, but that doesn’t mean treatment is impossible.
What Treatments Are Out There For Tinnitus?
Depending on the underlying cause of your tinnitus, there might be several possible treatment choices. One significant thing to take note of, however, is that there is presently no known cure for tinnitus. Despite this fact, there’s still a good possibility that your tinnitus will get better or even vanish altogether due to these treatments.
Studies have revealed that hearing aids help mask tinnitus in people who have hearing loss.
If covering up the noise doesn’t help, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been confirmed to help people live with the ringing in their ears that doesn’t disappear with other treatments. This mental health type of therapy can help people who are afflicted by tinnitus to function more normally on an everyday basis by helping them transform their negative thinking into a more positive mindset.